Manhattan Regional Airport (MHK), located in the picturesque and growing Flint Hills region of Kansas, cut the ribbon on its new terminal earlier in 2017. More than triple the size of the old facility, the new 42,000-square-foot building emerged from the footprint of the existing terminal in an unusual manner. The airport essentially cut its existing terminal in half, and then demolished, rebuilt and, expanded each half during separate phases—while maintaining operations the entire time.

The growth in aircraft arrivals, departures and overall passenger traffic demanded that the airport plan for significantly expanding the terminal building. In 2009, MHK had approximately 25,000 total enplanements, and in 2015, the airport exceeded 66,000. “Our original design from the architects Mead & Hunt called for mantrap portal entrances from the secure hold room, or deplaning area, into the unsecured “meet and greet” public area for baggage claim. The only problem was that the door design we wanted was no longer available,” explained Jesse R. Romo, MHK Airport Director.

While initially a disappointment, the inability to install the specified entrances did create an opportunity for Romo and his team, and in the summer of 2015 they began looking for alternatives to the mantrap portals. “We talked to other airports, including an airport in central Wisconsin to get good intelligence on what entrances were working well and which could fit our needs,” said Romo.